I. Omnipresence of discrimination in contemporary Russia 6. The UPR is going to take place on the background of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine started in February, 2022. An open military attack on a neighboring country which many Russians are connected with, turned out to be possible and did not raise mass public protest, inter alia, due to the fact that over the past decades the state propaganda has formed a discourse about Russia's exclusivity, its "special historical path" and "traditional values", its superiority in ownership of natural resources and, accordingly, the dependence of the whole world on Russian fossils. 7. At the same time, the propaganda succeeded in manipulating with the concepts of "internationalism" and "antifascism", convincing the population that a "neo-Nazi regime" supported by the West prevails in Ukraine, which infringes on Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine and threatens Russia. This argument, along with pseudohistorical constructions that a significant part of the Ukrainian territories actually belong to Russia, was used to justify the invasion of Ukraine. 8. By 2022, civil society and opposition movements were almost suppressed, independent media were closed and/or expelled from the country, leading human rights organizations were liquidated or restricted in their actions. The repressive legislation on "foreign agents" has affected the rights of dozens of organizations and individuals, and the toughened law on the so-called "LGBT propaganda" has made it impossible even to mention LGBTI+ in public space. Anti-war protest actions are brutally suppressed, any civil activity criticizing the actions of the authorities and expressing support for Ukraine is persecuted. 9. All of the above is directly related to the issue of discrimination, since the gradual degradation of Russian society under the influence of state propaganda and the tightening of the regime took place in an atmosphere of escalating hatred and discrimination against various vulnerable groups. II. Discrimination of Roma 10. For many years, the majority of the Roma population of Russia has been systematically confronted with various forms of racism and discrimination both by state and non-state actors. The vicious circle of structural discrimination cannot be considered overcome. Although the Federal Agency for Nationalities Affairs monitors the implementation of the Action Plan for the Socio-Economic and Cultural Development of Russian Roma, the problem of racism against Roma population is not recognized, consequently, the related problems find no adequate solution. 11. Racism and prejudice against Roma are widespread, often being verbalized by public officials, including the president of Russia. As a consequence of antigypsism in Russian society, dozens of interethnic conflicts are involving Roma population. The most serious of them (in Chemodanovka, Penza Province (2019) and in Khakassia (2018)) ended with anti-Roma pogroms and the flight of thousands of Roma. The authorities of the regions facing serious interethnic tensions did not take any special measures to overcome the consequences of the conflict and peace building, nor general integration measures. 12. Instead of positive prevention, the authorities practice repressive measures: force operations in places of compact residence of Roma, mass detention, rude and degrading treatment. Sometimes the raids are connected with the unresolved historical problem of unregistered Roma settlements. Roma have been living in many of them for decades, but they cannot legitimize houses and land, nor legally use water, gas, electricity, nor get registered at their place of residence. Currently, most of the Roma settlements throughout Russia, where thousands of people live, are under threat of demolition. 13. Segregated education of Roma children in so-called "Gypsy classes" is still widely practiced, being presented as a positive measure at the request of Roma parents. Even in cases of successful education in segregated primary classes, a full enrolment to secondary school does not actually occur. 14. Schools refuse to accept Roma children and even exclude them en masse – out of false considerations about the prestige of the school and under the influence of parents of non-Roma children. At the same time, no one controls the arbitrariness of school administrations, and it is difficult for poorly-literate Roma parents to overcome the resistance of directors and officials. In 2018, 78 children were excluded from school No.33 in Samara. As a result of the arbitrariness of school principals and the lack of proper control by the Department of Education, the children missed three school years, many dropped out of school forever or never go to school. 3